Inaction When We Need Action, Anxiety/Daydreaming/Distraction When We Need to Look Danger in the Face

from the Samurai Tarot: the Knight of Pentacles (Minamoto Yoritomo, the 1st Shogun), the reversed Two of Wands, and the reversed Ace of Wands

Drawing from the Samurai Tarot today, it looks to me like the Knight of Pentacles (represented here by Minamoto Yoritomo, the first Shogun) wants to move forward. He’s all ready with a plan of action and strategies. But we don’t have the enthusiasm and motivation right now for what needs to be done. Instead, we’re moping around daydreaming. If this is you — there are still a few hours left in the day. It’s not too late to turn the reins over to Yoritomo. This is a day when we just have to buckle down and do what needs to be done.

Another way of looking at these cards is that these two represent a couple, both pausing to think about the future in their relationship. Our Knight of Pentacles is focused on work, and moving forward with action, and with plenty of armor on, just in case. The woman on the Two of Wands card (though it’s hard to see her in this picture) is relaxing next to a pond at night while some kind of troll waits in the crook of the tree behind her. She has a choice to make, and to make it she will have to face the troll, but for the moment she is relaxing as if he doesn’t exist.

Either way, the common thread in both these cards is still inaction. And we need action today. Inaction is imprudent.

Why do we pause, choosing not to act when we really need to act more quickly? Anxiety — which though understandable can often be very self-destructive, and the way it destroys us is by paralyzing our ability to act. We have to find ways to manage anxiety so that we can move ahead. And that means facing the thing that we so far haven’t dared to face or even think about. Most of our thoughts may even be aimed at distracting us from this fear. But the troll in the tree is there, whether we look at the tree or not. Your chances of survival increase dramatically when you look straight at danger (though that doesn’t mean danger needs to look at you!).